MUMBAI:
India named Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in their T20 squad on Saturday, handing the 15-year-old sensation his maiden international call-up after a string of breathtaking performances in the domestic league.
Selectors also fired Suryakumar Yadav as captain following a poor run of form, just three months after he led the country to World Cup glory at home.
Shreyas Iyer, who last played a T20 for India in December 2023, was named as the new skipper for the upcoming two T20 internationals in Ireland, five matches in England and the Asian Games in Japan.
India will play Ireland on June 26 and 28 in Belfast. The England series will begin on July 1 in Chester-le-Street. The Asian Games will take place in September and October.
Teenager Sooryavanshi seized the limelight with his stellar showings in the Indian Premier League, which ended last week.
Playing for Rajasthan Royals, he topped the batting charts with 776 runs — including one hundred, and five half-centuries — and was named the IPL’s most valuable player.
The left-handed opener could cap his stunning rise by becoming India’s youngest-ever debutant, beating Sachin Tendulkar who played his first Test at 16 years and 205 days in 1989.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said Sooryavanshi deserved his selection.
“For someone so young to perform and consistently back himself in such high-pressure and competitive environments is truly special,” Agarkar said at a press briefing in Mumbai.
“We have very high hopes for him and are excited to see how he develops at the international level.”
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‘Best way forward’
The change of captaincy was expected after Suryakumar struggled with the bat at the World Cup and in the IPL.
In the World Cup, he scored just 242 runs in nine innings, with his unbeaten 84 against the United States the only significant knock.
Playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, the 35-year-old managed only 270 runs in 13 innings at an average of 20.76.
His team ended ninth in the 10-team table.
“It’s a tough one (to remove Suryakumar), having just won the World Cup, but as it happens after most World Cups, you try and reassess what your best way forward is,” said Agarkar.
“We thought this was the best way forward.”
Iyer’s reputation as a good leader and an IPL-winning captain helped him clinch the job.
He led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in 2024 and then captained Punjab Kings to a runners-up finish in 2025.
This season he guided the team into the play-offs.
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Kohli out
Indian batting star Virat Kohli has been ruled out of the upcoming one-day international cricket series against Afghanistan due to injury, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said on Saturday.
Kohli, 37, who led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second straight IPL title on Sunday, will miss the three ODI matches starting on June 13 in Dharamsala.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been named as Kohli’s replacement.
Kohli only plays the 50-over format for India after quitting Test and T20 internationals.
He was in prolific form during the recent IPL, scoring 675 runs at an average of 56.25, including an unbeaten 75 in the final against Gujarat Titans.
“It’s just been less than a week since he (Kohli) injured himself in the (IPL) finals,” Agarkar told a media briefing in Mumbai.
“We don’t know the timelines yet but it looks like he might be fit for that England one-day series (next month).”
The availability of Rohit Sharma, another veteran batsman, for the series remains unclear. Rohit was selected in the squad subject to fitness.
Squad for Ireland and England: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Nitish Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Squad for Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shivam Dube, Nitish Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh.
